Two Die As Malaria Sweeps Across Country

By: Thato Chwaane

There have been only two malaria deaths in Botswana this transmission season, Ministry of Health (MoH) officials have announced.

Speaking at a press briefing on the Zambezi Expedition, a Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiative to eradicate malaria, public health specialist Dr Nesredin Jami Oumer said malaria is no longer only in the five endemic districts, but is spreading to new areas, including southern parts of Botswana.

He said this might be because of climate change worldwide. He said because of heavy rainfalls there are sporadic malaria cases in some parts of the southern region, where three positive cases were recently reported in Goodhope. Other areas that have been affected are the Kgatleng and Kweneng districts.

Oumer said that there were 20, 000 malaria cases in 2006 and 16, 200 cases last year. He said because of widespread rainfall, ministry officials are expecting more malaria cases this year than ever before.

He said that Botswana strives to eliminate malaria, and in order to succeed it would need to work with other neighbouring countries. "Mosquitoes know no borders and people are moving from one country to another for many reasons," he said.

For this reason, he said there is a need to create awareness among communities. Oumer said with a boost in finance and commitment of the government malaria can be controlled or eliminated in 10 years but there has to be a regional collaboration.

National Malaria Control Programme manager Tjantilili Mosweunyane advised that should anyone have any symptoms, such as fever, headache or abdominal pains, they should seek medical attention as soon as possible. She said malaria "is a fast killing disease and to this day we are still losing patients".

And Zambezi Expedition media co-ordinator Barry Lwando said the purpose of the voyage - the Zambezi River of Life Expedition - is to raise awareness and fight against malaria while also finding out what other countries are doing. The journey joins together six countries of Botswana, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in the fight against the spread of malaria.

Lwando said in order for Botswana to be malaria-free, all the affected nations must achieve the target.

The Zambezi Expedition is a voyage on the 2, 500km- Zambezi River and will be the world's first to show the successes and challenges faced by the six malaria-endemic African countries.

The media have been invited to participate by telling the stories of remote populations on water's edge, to raise awareness of the fight against malaria in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

The Expedition, which is being launched in Angola today, ends on June 1 in Mozambique.

Source: http://allafrica.com